French Pres­id­ent Fran­cois Hol­lande said Par­is has seen in­dic­a­tions of a new chem­ic­al-arms at­tack against the Syr­i­an op­pos­i­tion, the Lon­don Guard­i­an re­ports.

Hol­lande on Sunday did not elab­or­ate on what “in­form­a­tion” his gov­ern­ment holds, and he stressed that the data was not con­clus­ive. Op­pon­ents of Syr­i­an Pres­id­ent Bashar As­sad’s gov­ern­ment have de­scribed nine pos­sible in­cid­ents of chem­ic­al-weapons use over the last two months in the coun­try’s civil war.

The ap­par­ent strikes were “much less sig­ni­fic­ant than those in Dam­as­cus … but very deadly,” Hol­lande told the European broad­caster Ra­dio 1.

The claims, which came from anti-As­sad groups both out­side of Syr­ia and in the na­tion’s west­ern and south­ern re­gions, linked the pos­sible strikes to at least 10 deaths and ad­di­tion­al in­jur­ies in the hun­dreds. As­sad’s gov­ern­ment agreed to sur­render its chem­ic­al-war­fare stock­pile last year, after sar­in nerve agent in Au­gust killed hun­dreds of people in an op­pos­i­tion-con­trolled sub­urb of the Syr­i­an cap­it­al.

Still, the re­gime has denied re­spons­ib­il­ity for any chem­ic­al strikes. On Sat­urday, Ir­an’s Fars News Agency ac­cused rebels of car­ry­ing out chlor­ine-gas at­tacks in the Syr­i­an city of Homs.

The Or­gan­iz­a­tion for the Pro­hib­i­tion of Chem­ic­al Weapons, which is help­ing to mon­it­or the dis­man­tle­ment of As­sad’s ar­sen­al, has said it would not re­view new al­leg­a­tions of Syr­i­an chem­ic­al-arms use without a mem­ber coun­try’s re­quest.

The watch­dog agency on Sunday said ships have re­moved roughly four-fifths of As­sad’s chem­ic­al stock­pile from Syr­ia. The latest ship­ments would “con­trib­ute” to ef­forts to fully des­troy the ma­ter­i­als by the end of June, ac­cord­ing to an OP­CW state­ment.

Sigrid Kaag, the spe­cial co­ordin­at­or of a U.N.-OP­CW over­sight op­er­a­tion, in Sat­urday com­ments said “the re­newed pace in move­ments is pos­it­ive and ne­ces­sary to en­sure pro­gress to­wards a tight dead­line.”

In­ter­na­tion­al au­thor­it­ies said As­sad’s gov­ern­ment has fin­ished elim­in­at­ing un­filled mus­tard-agent shells, and has taken steps to shut­ter sites for man­u­fac­tur­ing and hold­ing war­fare chem­ic­als.

President Obama has called for a "full review" of the hacking that took place during the 2016 election cycle, according to Obama counterterrorism and homeland security adviser Lisa Monaco. Intelligence officials say it is highly likely that Russia was behind the hacking. The results are not necessarily going to be made public, but will be shared with members of Congress.

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AT ISSUE: BENEFITS FOR COAL MINERS

Manchin, Brown Holding Up Spending Bill

2 hours ago

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Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Sherrod Brown (D-OH) are threatening to block the spending bill—and prevent the Senate from leaving town—"because it would not extend benefits for retired coal miners for a year or pay for their pension plans. The current version of the bill would extend health benefits for four months. ... Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) on Thursday afternoon moved to end debate on the continuing resolution to fund the government through April 28. But unless Senate Democrats relent, that vote cannot be held until Saturday at 1 a.m. at the earliest, one hour after the current funding measure expires."

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PARLIAMENT VOTED 234-56

South Korean President Impeached

3 hours ago

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The South Korean parliament voted on Friday morning to impeach President Park Geun-hye over charges of corruption, claiming she allowed undue influence to a close confidante of hers. Ms. Park is now suspended as president for 180 days. South Korea's Constitutional Court will hear the case and decide whether to uphold or overturn the impeachment.

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CLOSED FOR INAUGURAL ACTIVITIES

NPS: Women’s March Can’t Use Lincoln Memorial

3 hours ago

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Participants in the women's march on Washington the day after inauguration won't have access to the Lincoln Memorial. The National Park Service has "filed documents securing large swaths of the national mall and Pennsylvania Avenue, the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial for the inauguration festivities. None of these spots will be open for protesters."